Contact: Heather Benning, Executive Director, 920-430-0934
GRINNELL, Iowa – Tomorrow ten Midwest Conference (MWC) women's track & field teams will converge at April Zorn Memorial Stadium on the campus of Monmouth College to compete for the league's Outdoor Championship. St. Norbert College enters the event as three-time defending champion, while the Fighting Scots of the host institution are in a position to challenge for the title.
Day One competition includes the field events of shot put, long jump and javelin, as well as the finals for the 10K and 1,500m run. Prelims will be contested in the 100m and 400m hurdles, as well as the open 100, 200 and 400. Action begins at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, with the final event starting at approximately 5:30 p.m. Competition resumes on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. with field events followed by running action at 12:15 p.m. The last competition of the meet is the 4x400 scheduled to begin at 3:25 p.m. Saturday.
Championship Page
Leading the short sprints is Illinois College sophomore Andrea Hyde. Hyde finished second in the 100m and 200m dashes a year ago, but currently has the top times in both events heading into tomorrow's prelims. She posted a 12.05 in the 100m a week ago at the Fighting Scots Outdoor Invitational - a time that ranks her 10th in the nation among Division III competitors. Her mark in the 200m is 25.58.
Hyde combined with teammates Joselynn Allen (So.), Bailey Leitschuh (Jr.) and Olivia Molette (Fr.) to post a 47.86 in the 4x100, which ranks 22nd in Division III and first in the MWC. In the 4x400, it is Monmouth with the best seed time. The quartet of Joanna Podosek, Blessed Smith, Vanessa Caldwell and Isabella Kosier ran a 4:01.55 at the Augustana Meet of Champions on April 21.
Maddie LeBrun, who won the 400 as a first-year, returns this spring to defend her title. The St. Norbert sophomore ran a league-best 57.33 on April 19 at the Mt. Sac Relays, which is more than a second faster than the next ranked performer. Teammate Taylor Domro also posted a top performance at the Mt. Sac Relays. The senior ran a time of 4:36.49 in the 1500 to place her atop the MWC standings.
Podosek is sure to be a home crowd favorite when she takes the track in the 800m. The senior Fighting Scot tops the league in the event with a time of 2:16.28 and is a two-time qualifier for Indoor Nationals.
Cornell College's MariKate Murphy, the 2018 MWC Cross Country Champion and NCAA Qualifier, is a favorite in the 3000 Steeple (11:24.23) and 5K (17:52.10), while Emma Zimmerman of Grinnell College is ranked second in that event (18:13.95) as well as the 10K (39:05.16). Caitlyn Allen of Monmouth has the fastest 10K of the season (38:05.07).
In the hurdles, Caldwell (Monmouth) is expected to earn a position on the podium as she has the league's second fastest time in the 100H (15.16) and is ranked No. 1 in the 400 hurdles (1:05.00). Eva Laun-Smith, the 2018 Midwest Conference Indoor Track & Field Newcomer of the Year, enters the weekend ranked first in the 100H (14.86), long jump (17' 2") and triple jump. The sophomore from Beloit College jumped a season-best 39' 2.25" in the triple jump last week, placing her fifth on the DIII leaderboard.
A natural rivalry will exist at the high jump as Seniors Madi Schulenberg (Monmouth) and Libby Schnoor (Cornell) return to battle for the league title. The two enter this weekend's high jump competition with a similar mark of 5' 1.75". Schulenberg is the 2018 Indoor High Jump Champion after winning the tiebreaker when both she and Schnoor maxed out at 5' 3.25". At the 2017 Outdoor Championships, it was Schnoor finishing ahead of Schulenberg, where they finished second and third, respectively.
The battle for first in the pole vault is likely to come down to teammates Kirsten Carrigan (So.) and Graceanne Tarsa (Jr.) of St. Norbert. Both vaulted a season-best 10' 10.25" last week at the Lawrence Invitational, while Ripon first-year Jackie Zeman has the next best performance at 10' 4.25".
In the throws, it is senior Lilly Mendez of Monmouth with the top mark (41' 3.75") in the shot put. Cornell's Octavia Martinez (Jr.) is the favorite in the discus after throwing for 137' 11" at the 2018 Viking Classic, while the next best toss on record is that of Grinnell first-year Agne Lukoseviciute (126' 1"). Jenna Kennedy (Illinois College) has the best hammer toss on the season with a pitch of 148' 6", while Schnoor is ranked first in the javelin with a throw of 120' 3".